BALLARAT students are baking the blues away – raising awareness of the high level of anxiety and depression many young Australians live with.
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Beyond Blue research suggests poor mental health is rife among Australian youth, with one in four young people experiencing a mental health condition.
Mount Clear College VCAL teacher Brendon Johnston has spent the last month looking at adolescent mental health issues with year 11 students.
ABS data states suicide as the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15 to 24, with half of all mental health conditions emerging by the age of 14, and three-quarters by age 24.
Year 11 student Caelum O’Mara had spent the morning icing cupcakes blue to raise money for Beyondblue with his classmates.
As the student learn about mental health, a leading expert in this field has urged members of the community to get out and eat healthily to avoid the winter blues.
Ballarat Community Health Alcohol and Other Drug Team Leader Claire Ryan said winter affects people because there is less daylight and in turn our behaviours can change.
She said winter makes it more difficult to go outside, maybe exercise, make poorer food choices and increase social isolation.
“The flow on effects of this are people start to feel low and existing problems may intensify. This might mean more days off work, more substance misuse, increased stress and anxiety and this can have a negative impact on relationships.”
BeyondBlue has specific school initiatives including MindMatters which is designed to help secondary school communities reshape their mental health cultures.
Through MindMatters, teachers can access online and face-to-face training, webinars and support from project officers from Principals Australia Institute to learn how to support young people through this tumultuous time.
Beyondblue chief Georgie Harman said good mental health awareness and practices play a significant role in adolescents’ success in education.
“The importance of MindMatters was highlighted after a Beyondblue survey of teachers and principals found that one in five was not confident handling students’ mental health issues,” Ms Harman said. Visit beyondblue.com.au
Olivia Shying
Police and emergency services reporter.
Police and emergency services reporter.
